KOENIGSTEIN (Germany): Brazil's players enjoyed their last day off before returning to practice for the team's final World Cup preparations.

Players got to rest on Monday for the last time before Brazil's debut against Croatia on June 13 in Berlin. The defending champions will resume practicing Tuesday morning.

Brazil, heavily favoured to win the World Cup for the sixth time, routed Swiss club FC Lucerne 8-0 on Tuesday in Basel, Switzerland. It also trashed Fluminense's under-20 squad 13-1 in a practice match in Weggis a week ago.

``(The preparation) has met our expectations,'' Parreira said. ``It was a short period of time, but well-planned and well-used.''

Thousands of people tried to get a glimpse of the Brazilians at their hotel in Koenigstein on Monday, a local holiday, but most of the players were out spending time with their family.

Grand welcome

Hundreds of Brazilian fans and local residents welcomed the Brazilian delegation when it arrived Sunday night at its new training camp, the Brazilian Soccer Confederation said.

Brazil's hotel has been closed to other guests, and some of the city's streets have been partially blocked to keep fans from bothering the Brazilian stars. More than 100 additional police officers will work during Brazil's stay until June 18.

The five-time champions will practice near the hotel at the Zagallo Arena, named in honour of Brazil's current assistant coach and former player Mario Zagallo.

The team's practice on Thursday will be the only one open to the public, and about 25,000 people were expected to attend it.

In Weggis, about 45,000 fans watched Brazil's training sessions during the two-week period. The city was taken over by more than 10,000 Brazilian fans each day. Samba music was heard everywhere, and the Brazilian language — Portuguese — could be heard about as often as German.

With closed practice sessions in Koenigstein, the town wasn't expected to undergo the same level of transformation, but Brazilian flags could already be seen nearly everywhere around town.

Brazil is in Group F along with Croatia, Australia and Japan. — AP

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